Category Archives: Vegan

I have several recipes for vegan brownies I use when I have a chocolate craving, but I found this one in Sauce Magazine. The recipe comes from Beth Styles, who is not even vegan, but her brownies are awesome! I made a couple of minor changes, which I’ll share with you at the end.

Ingredients

3/4 cup applesauce

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz. dairy-free chocolate chips, separated into 7 oz. and 1 oz.

8 Tbsp Earth Balance

3 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8×8 inch square pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the applesauce, sugar, vanilla, and salt until well combined. Set aside.

Melt 7 oz. of chocolate chips along with the Earth Balance in a small saucepan over low heat, being careful not to burn. When it’s completely melted, whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth and remove from heat.

Whisk the chocolate mixture into the ingredients you already combined. With a spoon, stir in the flour until just combined (don’t over-stir or it will become cakey when it bakes), and then stir in the remaining ounce of chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into the pan, smoothing out the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes on the middle rack.

My Slight Changes: I used raw turbinado sugar instead of granulated white sugar, which does give the brownies a unique taste, but it’s healthier and I like the flavor enhancement it brings. I also stirred in 1 ounce of dark chocolate chunks instead of regular semi-sweet chocolate chips (although I did use regular chocolate chips for the other 8 oz.). My variations really didn’t change the final product much, but my husband and I truly enjoyed these brownies. They are very moist and gooey. Just how a brownie should be! I made these in honor of my husband’s first day at his new job today!!

I love adding superfoods to my diet. Just knowing they are labeled by important sciency/doctor type people as a superfood makes me feel really healthy and strong eating them. Many superfoods, such as sweet potatoes, are incredibly easy to add to my diet since they are SO good, but then there are other superfoods, like kale, that are not so easy for me. Kale often tastes bitter, although marinating the kale before eating it as a salad as well as adding fruit (my favorites are apples and oranges) does help diminish the awful bitterness found in every bite. But, I don’t eat marinated kale salads everyday, because I like to switch up my salads. I hate for food to become boring by eating the same things the same way every single day. So, I decided to experiment with my daily smoothie and try creating a kale smoothie that didn’t have even a trace of bitterness to it. I am proud to say, I was successful! And it’s a good thing, too, because kale is one of those foods many doctors and nutritionists say people should consume on a daily basis. It’s packed full of vitamins (the most notable being vitamins K, A, and C and manganese) and antioxidants. The vast number of flavonoids and carotenoids found in kale have amazing anti-inflammatory and antioxidant powers that lower cholesterol levels and lower a person’s risk for cancer. In addition, a major note to vegetarians who are continually told the only way to get omega-3’s are through fish: 100 calories of kale provides us with 25-35% of our daily omega 3 need. That paired with the high vitamin K content of kale works as a major anti-inflammatory in the body, making kale an excellent detox food and vital for our daily consumption. So, if you are like me and find it hard to swallow the bitter leaves of kale, then give this Coconut Kale Smoothie a try.

Ingredients

1 cup coconut milk (I use vanilla)

2 cups dinosaur kale

1 chopped apple (I use Red Delicious, but any kind is fine)

1 banana (preferably frozen)

2 Tbsp shredded coconut

2 Tbsp chia seeds

1 Tbsp coconut oil

4-6 ice cubes

Add all the ingredients to the blender, making sure to add the coconut milk first so it blends well. Blend until smooth. This recipe makes 2 servings.

According to a recent study by the Indian Institute of Science published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Bottlenose Dolphins actually call each other by name…well, sort of. “Bottlenose dolphins develop their own unique identity signal, the signature whistle. This whistle encodes individual identity independently of voice features. The copying of signature whistles may therefore allow animals to label or address one another.” As part of the study, researchers would choose a particular dolphin and play his/her unique whistle, and that dolphin would actually call back in response to hearing his/her “name”. When the dolphins heard the whistle “name” of another dolphin, they did not respond. This suggests that Bottlenose Dolphins actually learn their identity signal (“name”), and use their names as a way to label and identify one another. In fact, Bottlenose Dolphins are already known for forming cliques (Natural News), so this idea of identity signals explains how they are able to differentiate one dolphin from another in order to create their circle of friends. Bottlenose Dolphins appear to be highly advanced in communication, especially for a nonhuman species, so I have a feeling scientists will continue to study them further after this incredible discovery.

I was really looking forward to grilling some veggie burgers and fresh zucchini tonight, but it didn’t work out as I had planned. I ended up baking everything, but it still turned out delicious. So much so that I have to share the recipes with you.

Add 1/2 cup rice to 1 cup water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and allow to simmer with the lid on until fully cooked (around 20 minutes).

(Optional: Toast sunflower seeds in the oven at 300 degrees for 12 minutes.)

Prep all the vegetables: garlic, peppers, onion, carrot, and parsley. Add to a bowl and stir in 1/2 tsp salt.

When the rice is finished cooking, add it to a medium bowl along with the chickpeas and mash them together. You must do this while the rice is hot so it binds together. The chickpeas take a while to mash, so you may wish to use a food processor (I have not tried this). You want the rice/chickpea mixture to be mashed well but with some chunks left for texture.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the rice/chickpea mixture and stir in the vegetables using a wooden spoon. Stir in the BBQ sauce, breadcrumbs, flax, sunflower seeds, red pepper, and 1/2 tsp salt.

Form 6-7 patties. You have 3 cooking options. You could bake these on a greased sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees (flip them over after 15 minutes). You could also cook them in a skillet for 4-5 minutes on each side. Or you could grill them. If you grill them, you’ll need to pre-bake them for 15 minutes at 350.

Wash the sweet potatoes and cut off the ends (you may wish to peel them as well, but I like the skins on). Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise (if they are really long, then cut them in half crosswise also). Slice each piece into wedges. Some of mine were wide, so I cut them in half lengthwise again so that all the fries were about equal size.

Put the sweet potatoes in a large bowl, drizzle them with olive oil, and add in all the seasonings. Mix well so all the fries are covered with the same amount of seasoning.

Spread the sweet potatoes out in a single layer on the cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, and then flip the potatoes over and bake for another 10-15 minutes (until browned).

Saturday afternoon, we hosted a đầy tháng party for our new goddaughter (which happens to be my husband’s baby cousin). A đầy tháng is the celebration of the first month of a baby’s life. Infant mortality has historically been a major concern in Vietnam, so families would not celebrate a new baby until she had survived the first month of life. Once one month had passed and the baby remained healthy, the family would host a party so that all their family and friends could meet the new baby. This is when a baby’s name would be announced as well. Traditionally, Vietnamese people believed it was bad luck to name the baby or say nice things about her (for example, “she’s so cute”), because that would draw attention from spirits, and if you caught the spirits’ attention, they might steal the soul. They believed that once a baby reached one month of age, her soul was sealed inside of her and could not be easily taken. Nowadays, Vietnamese families still celebrate đầy tháng, but in a more modern way. People come to the hospital to see the baby and parents tell the baby’s name (sometimes even before the baby is born, although we know a lot of Vietnamese people who will not share the name, or sometimes won’t even choose a name, until after the baby is born), and while mothers still do not leave the house for a month, people can stop by the house to visit during those weeks leading up to the big celebration. I guess you could say the modern đầy tháng is sort of like a baby shower AFTER the baby is born, because people bring gifts or money.

So, all that to say, I hosted a party, which means I made a lot of food. When hosting a party, I think the best approach is to make as much in advance as possible, because once you see the to-do list (cleaning, cooking, baking, decorating, invitations, etc.) you realize there are a lot of last minute things to do and you don’t want to be stressed out the day of the party.

I started with the dessert. I originally thought about ordering a cake, but vegan cakes from a bakery are pretty pricey; not to mention, EVERYONE has cake for these types of parties, so I decided to make homemade sugar cookies. I had never made vegan sugar cookies before, but I found the most amazing recipe for them online (see recipe below), and they are seriously the best sugar cookies I’ve ever tasted. They were a big hit at the party!

I chose a butterflies and flowers theme for the party since the baby is a girl, so I bought some cute cookie cutters and decided to use pink frosting, but I didn’t want to feed people Red 40, which is well known for causing hyperactivity in children and possibly cancer in adults. So, I used beets to add a natural pink color to the icing. It’s so easy! Just wash and peel a small beet, and then cut off a 1 inch chunk. Cut the 1 inch chunk into little cubes or rectangles and microwave them for about 30 seconds (or until some juice starts leaking out). Add the beet chunks to the bowl of icing and stir until you reach the shade of pink you desire, and then remove the beets with a spoon. You can’t even taste the beet juice! No one would have guessed I used beets to dye the frosting, and the color was perfect!

Next, I moved on to salads. I made a broccoli salad and my mom made a pasta salad. Her pasta salad was very simple but delicious. She used tricolor spiral noodles and added several different kinds of chopped vegetables and tossed it in an Italian vinaigrette. For my broccoli salad, I used a “rainbow salad” mix (sometimes called “broccoli slaw mix”) and added raisins, green onion, and sunflower seeds with a homemade Veganaise-based dressing (see recipe below).

Finally, I prepped veggie burgers the night before. This is one of our favorite veggie burger recipes, which I’ve written about before, although I’ve never shared the recipe on my blog. I got the recipe from ohsheglows, and they truly are some of the best veggie burgers! The only difference in mine is I add about 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper to the mix.

The party was a lot of fun. Actually, I should say parties (*plural), because I hosted a party for D’s friends at our house in the afternoon, and then we had another party with family and Vietnamese family friends at a friend’s Vietnamese restaurant late at night after everyone was off work.

In a large bowl, mix together Earth Balance and sugar with electric beaters. Beat in applesauce and vanilla.

Using a large spoon, stir in baking powder and flour, starting with 2 cups of flour and then gradually adding the last 2 cups. It may take several minutes to get the dough softened up, and you may even need to add about 2 Tbsp of warm water, but it will soften.

Cover and chill dough for at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

Roll dough onto a floured surface about 1/4 inch thick. Use cookie cutters of your choice to make cookies, and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes. Allow them to cool completely before frosting them. I had to bake these in 2 batches. This recipe made 42 cookies for me.

Sugar Cookie Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tbsp Earth Balance, softened

2 Tbsp non-dairy milk (I used vanilla coconut milk. You may need more or less milk depending on the consistency you want the icing to be.)

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

In a large bowl, use a big spoon to stir together the powdered sugar and Earth Balance. Stir in vanilla and then the milk, adding 1 Tbsp at a time until you reach the consistency you want.

If you want pink frosting, follow the directions I gave above using beets. I know there are other natural ways of dying frosting, but I have not tried them yet, so pink is all I can tell you for sure.

Broccoli Salad

1 rainbow salad mix (sometimes called broccoli slaw mix)

2 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

For the Dressing

1 cup veganaise

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbsp white vinegar

In a medium bowl, toss together the rainbow salad mix, green onion, raisins, and sunflower seeds. In a separate small bowl, mix together the veganaise, sugar, and vinegar. Slowly add the dressing to the salad and mix well. You probably won’t need the entire amount of dressing. I usually end up using almost all of it, but there’s always just a little left in the bowl.

I have been experimenting with a new recipe, and I finally found the perfect combination of ingredients to make these sweet potato curry rounds delicious! These are really healthy, quick and easy to make, and taste great! These sweet potato curry rounds are excellent for appetizers or a snack, and would be the perfect item to bring to a pot luck. They are firm on the outside, soft on the inside, and have just a slight curry taste.

You may wish to peel your potatoes first, although I keep the skin on because that’s where a lot of the nutrients are at. This recipe should work fine either way. Chop the potatoes into large chunks and place in a pot. Cover with water, bring to a boil, and cook for about 6 minutes.

Meanwhile, mince the garlic and chop the spinach. In a skillet over medium heat, add about 1 Tbsp olive oil and lightly brown the garlic. Add in the spinach with 3 Tbsp water, and cook until the spinach wilts (about 3 minutes).

Preheat the oven to 450 at this time.

When the potatoes are finished cooking, drain them and place them in a medium bowl. Using a potato masher, mash until fully soft (like you’re making mashed potatoes).

Add the spinach and mashed sweet potatoes to a bowl and add in all the seasonings plus 1 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp flour (I used whole wheat flour, but any flour should work). Stir together and let cool for a few minutes.

Grease a pan, and then, using your hands, form 1 1/2 inch balls with the sweet potato mixture and place on the pan. (I was able to make 20 balls with my sweet potato mixture.)

Bake at 450 for 15-18 minutes. I checked mine at 15 minutes, but the outside wasn’t quite as firm as I wanted it, so I cooked them another 2 minutes and they were ready. You want them to be firm on the outside (but soft on the inside), but you want to be careful not to burn the bottoms. Let these cool for about 5 minutes before eating so they can firm up a little more, and then enjoy!

For those of you who live in the United States, what did you do for the 4th of July? We had such a wonderful day! We left in the morning to drive one hour to Pere Marquette State Park for a hike and picnic lunch. I haven’t been there in years, so it was really nice. And we saw several fun things along the way, which you’ll see in the pics.

I packed us a yummy lunch to replenish us after our hike. We had stir-fried sweet potatoes, sliced strawberries, a banana, and a broccoli salad that consisted of shredded broccoli, shredded red cabbage, shredded carrots, raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and a homemade dressing.

After our hike, Xanh and I napped the whole way home, leaving my poor husband to drive in silence for an hour. Then, we rushed to pick ticks off Xanh (he had 6!!!), give him a bath, feed him dinner, and get ourselves showered and ready so we could go to a party with my in-laws. A family friend owns a Vietnamese restaurant in the area, so oftentimes they will host holiday parties up at their restaurant so there’s plenty of seating and a big kitchen to prep all the food. And the female owner was so sweet and made a couple of special vegetarian dishes just for us. 🙂 Another plus of that party is my husband won $10 playing blackjack with the kids! Haha. After that, we came home, watched fireworks, and fell fast asleep after our packed day.

By the way, before I bring this post to an end, I need to pause here to tell you about the strange thing we saw when we were leaving the restaurant party. We almost hit a turtle in the road! My husband immediately did a u-turn and went back to get the turtle out of the road. As we approached the turtle, a man came running out of nowhere to pick it up and told us it was his pet turtle. He explained that he had his turtle out with him for the 4th so he could “play in the grass” and didn’t realize he was capable of making it out to the road so fast. We thought it was kind of weird… Who takes a pet turtle outside to “play”? What if something ate it or a car ran over it?!

So what did you do for the 4th? Did you grill anything good? Share your 4th of July food ideas in the comments section.